First Atlantic Bird Sightings

I don't know sea shore birds at all - only paying attention to those of fields and forests. On the recent road trip, I had the opportunity to identify my first shore bird while waiting in line for the Fort Fisher-Southport Ferry (1). The birds were flocking all over the parking lot in an Alfred Hitchcock'esque manner, much in part due to the lady in the car next to our car who kept throwing bread crumbs out her window - some even hitting the side of our car - mouthing "Oh, excuse me" and then kept on doing it.

Calling for my trusty copy of Peterson's A Field Guide to Eastern Birds, I had no clue what I was looking at. I turned through the pages of Terns, Petrels, Shearwaters, and Gannets. What are these critters? We only had to wait five minutes for the 5:30 ferry, so were quickly on board and parked. The birds followed us, or the lady throwing the bread crumbs. Finally, with time to spare, and magnification of one of the photos I took in the queue... the Laughing Gull, or is it a Black-headed Gull? Finally, it was sure - a Laughing.

It just happened that there was a news report on the radio that birds in the Gulf of Mexico being rescued included Laughing Gulls, with an image of an oil-coated one making the rounds. Cool looking birds in real life. At ease on ferry docks and decks and around people - willing to strike a pose like fashion models, and only for bread crumbs. The coincidence of making my first identification in the same day as seeing ones soaring over me, and hearing about ones held earth-bound in oil is ironic. The politics of the blame casting goes on about the Gulf spill - at least today another player was brought into the mix at whom to have stones thrown.
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As we drove down the coast, there were many estuaries in Georgia that I pictured myself navigating through in a kayak - silent, anticipating what I would see around the next bend. Only a dream, but something to do some time in the future. For this trip, I was only able to do the window survey along the highways. The most notables were Red Wing Blackbird, Wood Stork, and possibly a Whooping Crane - though that would be a rare find given any along the Atlantic coast have been re-introduced. The black wing tip on the Whooping Crane distinguishes it from the Wood Stork which has a continuous black margin - also visible from below when in flight. The most common bird I saw from Maryland to Florida was the Black Vulture.
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(1) See the map of the route to Fort Fisher-Southport Ferry between Wilmington, North Carolina and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on Route 421.